As the wind flew past and brushed some tree branches, Lily’s hair also fluttered. Dijon was gazing upon her with intensity.
It was evident from his position as one of the Six Swords and the young master of the renowned Hojo clan, the moment he made that declaration to Lily that he would accept no refusal.
And Lily thought to herself that she should definitely hide her strength here, leading them to believe she was really an ordinary new samurai. That way, even if they eventually find out Motoshige and Akira were dead, they wouldn’t be able to link the event to her so long as the survivors didn’t come face-to-face with her.
Was she really too naive to have let those fleeing samurai get away?
However, Lily didn’t regret her action. Those men were blameless. If they didn’t attack her, she had no reason to kill them! Even if she had predicted this to happen earlier, she would’ve still done the same.
If Lily continued to refuse, not only will Dijon not let her go, it will even arouse his suspicion. Because in response to Lily’s excuse earlier, Dijon had given a very reasonable proposal, she didn’t have a reason to refuse.
As such, Lily made her decision.
She made a slightly strained expression and said, “Lily didn’t dare to trouble Your Highness. His Highness must have set out to suppress a big monster, I am just a newcomer, and a woman no less, I’m afraid to be a burden on the army.”
Lily was acting this way precisely because she had already decided to not insist on leaving. She had to decline as naturally as any other girl would. Otherwise, it would also incite some suspicion. If a group of men asked a girl to go along with them and she readily consented, that would be really weird instead.1
Even though it looked as if Lily was refusing, most people with common sense would be able to tell she was being polite and reserved. As thus, Dijon also didn’t get angry and continued to compel, “Miss Kagami need not to decline. Since you are holding up to the Genji’s expectation, then all the more reason to come with us to gain first-hand experience on a real monster suppression!”
One of the Hojo samurai scowled, “His Highness is already asking you over and over again, yet you still want to decline, do you intent to disrespect Lord Hojo?”
“Nagasaki, don’t be rude!” Dijon put on a berating act.
As Lily looked around, all the samurai aside from the Matsuda’s side were glaring at her like tigers. Hence, she acted slightly awkward and said, “Since His Highness invited me out of good intention, how can Lily continue to refuse? Your Highness, and to all the seniors, I’ll be in your care.”
Lily took advantage of the situation to bow towards them like an obedient child.
After that was settled, Dijon finally relaxed his face and nodded in satisfaction.
At this time, Matsuda Nagahide rushed ahead of Lily and said, “Your Highness! Since Miss Kagami is a woman, it might be a bit inconvenient for her to move together with a group of men. Miss Kagami can also be regarded as half my student, therefore, please let me take care of her en route and give her a few pointers to avoid getting in Your Highness’s way.”
“Yea! That’s right! It’s fine to leave her to us!” Kimura and Kanzaki also moved between Lily and Dijon. Though their voice trembled slightly.
Looking at this scene, Lily felt warm in her heart. She could already tell from Dijon’s eyes that he was planning to do something sinister to her and that the Matsuda clan was trying to protect her! In this dangerous world where might makes right, despite being a clan with no talents or backings, the Matsudas were real samurai with honorable spirit!
Dijon was clearly displeased upon hearing Nagahide’s suggestion. However, since the Matsuda was one of their vassals who had crossed mountains and rivers with his father, he didn’t want to be too harsh towards him. Moreover, Nagahide’s reasoning sounded reasonable to anyone who heard it.
The other samurai from Hojo were also unable to voice out.
Meanwhile, Dijon cursed in his heart, “Where did that ⓑⓐⓢⓣⓐⓡⓓ Motoshige go!?”
He always left all the dirty works to Motoshige, since as the future head of the Hojo clan, he had to be mindful of his reputation as rumors would spread like wildfire. Those dirty works were all done by Motoshige, without him around, Dijon couldn’t act too blatantly. However, he will be sure to remember this animosity towards Nagahide and teach this old man a lesson in the future.
“Yeah, what Uncle Matsuda said is reasonable, then I will trouble Uncle Matsuda to take care of this young lady for me,” As Dijon said that, the corners of his mouth twitched. In his heart, he was cursing this meddlesome old man.
The Hojo suppression force decided to stay at the cave for the night. While others weren’t paying attention, Lily took the chance to collect the clothes and panties she had hung out to dry in the air. Meanwhile, she was feeling very self-conscious just thinking of the inconveniences for a girl to sleep outdoors with a group of adult men!
Lily and Matsuda’s group sat in front of a few meters tall boulder along the cave wall. Kimura started, “Miss Kagami, if you feel inconvenience, then please go rest behind the boulder. Kanzaki and I will secure the perimeter! We won’t let anyone with malicious intentions get close!”
“T- thank you very much…” Lily felt very grateful towards them. While she sat on top of the dry leaves, the others were sitting on the ground. She asked Nagahide who was leaning against the boulder, “Master Matsuda, what is His Highness trying to hunt with such a big troop?”
Matsuda’s steadfast face also carried a hint of respect as he said, “His Highness is going to subdue a Demon Hound that has been appearing all over Kanto.”
“Demon Hound?”
Nagahide nodded and said with a bit of remorse, “This Demon Hound has been reported as a Superior High-Rank monster that’s reaching the peak. Its demon force is extremely strong. Even if we dispatched the entire troops of the Hojo clan, it still wouldn’t be easy to achieve total victory. However, this Demon Hound has already been wounded by the time it entered Kanto from the west. In addition to Taira and Hojo clan’s continuous assault, it should be greatly exhausted by now, but it still managed to get away by chance every, single, time! This time, however, we have learned that its old nest is located in Mount Amegyo. And also that it is currently recuperating in its old nest. This is the best opportunity to hunt down the beast!”2
A Demon Hound from the west…
Peak stage of Superior High-Rank, that was more than enough to kill Lily within seconds!
High-Rank monsters, those were equivalent to the genuinely powerful ones of the Heian Empire. They were monsters on the same level as the Kensei! Even renowned clans didn’t dare to offend the sword saints, they were treated as VIPs or major figures in government everywhere they went!
And Superior High-Rank monsters were the equal of High-Tier Kensei! Moreover, these ancient monsters were usually much tougher than a Kensei of the same level!
If humans didn’t nurture their Spirit Power, their upper limits could only go up to the level of a High-Tier Samurai. The small minority with an extremely tough body might make it to the Low-Tier Kengo, but those were truly the uppermost limits of a human body.
To get further than that, one must begin to nurture Spirit Power!
The upper limit of a High-Tier Samurai’s penetration force was 800 kwan.
And the penetration force of a Low-Tier Kengo was between 1,000 to 1,500 kwan.
Mid-Tier Kengo: 2,000 to 4,000 kwan.
High-Tier Kengo: 5,000 to 8,000 kwan!
As for Kensei, that was yet a jump of another level. They had by far exceeded the realm of ordinary human!
It had been reported that the penetration force of a Low-Tier Kensei could reach up to 10,000 ~ 15,000 kwan! That was enough power to split a mountain and destroy an entire city!
Mid-Tier Kensei: 20,000 to 40,000 kwan!
And High-Tier Kensei even reached up to 60,000 ~ 100,000 kwan!
Then that Superior High-Rank Demon Hound —who was already physically stronger than the same level Kensei— should have a power level beyond 100,000 kwan!
Just when Lily thought she was already plenty strong enough, but even if she mustered all her stops, her penetration force was merely an insignificant 2,000 kwan……
It was clear for all to see, for Dijon to dare to challenge that monster, he must have the strength of a High-Tier Kensei at the very least!3
It was pointless to surround the Demon Hound with numbers. If he didn’t have the strength to hunt the beast, they’d only be throwing away their life!
It was fortunate that she didn’t try in vain to run away in front of Hojo Dijon. That wasn’t an opponent she could even begin to compare!
She definitely mustn’t let him find out it was her who killed his brother Motoshige. Otherwise, she would be dead!
Even if it was Motoshige and Akira who kept setting her up and forcing her hands, it didn’t seem like Dijon would care about that at all. From those two scumbags, one could already tell that the Hojo clan was not one to speak with reasons. And the oppressive feeling Lily sensed from Dijon was even greater than the previous two.
She must find a chance to run away!
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